The Last Elemental (New Version)
by Lunesca Solsbane
Summary: Naomi is just your traditional school girl. But when a person from her past returns the Reikai Tentai will once again have to help her remove them from her life. But what secrets will be revealed? What is it about this girl that no one knows about? how could she possibly be the last of her kind? Note: This is the re-write for the original The Last Elemental. HieixOc, KuramaxOc
1. Chapter 1: He's Back!

Lune: Okay so there were some problems with my original storyline so please forgive me for re-writing the few chapters I did put in here. I promise it's not getting horribly changed just a few things that had gotten left out on accident and I didn't realize when originally writing the story. I'm going to try and put Hiei as close to his original character as possible but a few things may seem a little off because of the different scenario that he's in. Also the girl in the cover art for this story is roughly what I thought of Naomi as.

_**Disclaimer:**_ _**(I'm only saying this once because obviously I would not be writing a Fanfic if I owned the rights to anything.)**_

_**I, Lunesca Solsbane, do not own any aspect including characters, environments, base storyline or anything having to do with Yu Yu Hakusho in its original form. I do however own all OCs that will appear throughout the story and the actual plotline itself…okay that's everything I think…**_

Legend:

"Talking"

'Telepathic Speak'

_Thinking to oneself_

_**Dream/Memories**_

**YYH** = Pagebreak/Scene Change/Etc

**Chapter 1: He's back!**

"Morning Keiko." Said a green eyed girl with long silver hair.

"Morning Naomi, have you seen Yusuke this morning?" The brunette asked as Naomi sat down in her seat next to the window just behind her.

Naomi shook her head and frowned. "No, and I have seen the others either. Normally Kurama and Hiei stop by the house to walk with me but they weren't there today. But then again it's still only homeroom and we do have ten minutes left before class starts."

Keiko sighed and pulled her supplies out of her bag. "I guess you're right. I'll give them a few more minutes but its senior year and Yusuke has missed so many days already. He just won't show up often enough, I don't know why he even bothers to stay enrolled." She tapped her pencil on her desk in irritation, glaring at the door the whole time.

"Huh, and I thought Koenma had retired Yusuke as Spirit Detective because of that last tournament." Naomi mused, "it seems as if Yusuke and the others are the only ones who insist on keeping all those demons in check."

Keiko nodded and before she could reply the bell rang, instead she frowned harder and Naomi felt sorry for the boys, Yusuke in particular.

"Good Morning class." Mr. Hatomi said as he walked in, his head was bent as he looked at the stack of papers in his hands.

"Good morning Mr. Hatomi." The class replied as one. Naomi continued to look out the window, but no one seemed to really notice. Without looking up the teacher placed his things on the desk and after a very quick glance began taking roll.

"Takada, Naomi?" The teacher said and looked up. Naomi was still looking out the window lost in thought about what her friends could be doing and if they were alright. "Miss Takada!" The teacher said loudly pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Here." She said, barely glancing at him before looking back out the window. It wasn't unusual for her to be so lost in thought so the teacher shook his head and marked her as present.

"Miss Takada," He said, pausing in his roll call. "I would like to speak to you after school if you don't mind." Ignoring the hushed teasing from the other students she just nodded and vaguely listened as he called out Yusuke's name.

After class Naomi and Keiko said their goodbyes and walked toward their separate classes. It would be lunch before they got together again. Keiko had her math class and Naomi had study hall. After the teacher was finished taking roll, Naomi pulled out her art book and her colored pencils and continued on a picture that she had been working on for the past week or so.

She was finishing up the basic colors for her picture when the bell rang to end class and she took one last look before putting it in her bag. It was a picture of a waterfall placed in a forest setting, the moon was perfectly reflected in the pool of water at the base of the falls and several animals were gathered around the water resting. She planned on finishing it in art class that afternoon and turning it in for her final project.

As she was walking out of the classroom she was stopped short as one of her class mates stepped in front of her. The girl was Marie Narakata and she was one of the most popular girls in school. She also held a strong grudge against Naomi for being friends with what was deemed the two hottest guys in the school. Though her manners and personality were lacking, Naomi admitted that she was very pretty looking with perfect raven black hair and eyes the color of milk chocolate.

"What do you want now Marie?" Naomi asked the girl. It was a normal occurrence for the girl to start trouble during the few times she was away from the others, not that she ever admitted it to the boys. Somehow she didn't think they'd be too kind to the bitch that was trying to bully her.

Marie just smiled at her and Naomi wanted to gag at how sickeningly sweet it appeared to be. "I heard you were being bad and left one of my close friends with a nasty bloody lip." She purred and circled around the silver haired girl. "Now, according to her you attacked without provocation. This couldn't possibly be true could it you little slut? Did you leave my poor friend to look so horrible this close to the Fall Formal? Maybe you were just jealous of her beauty and wanted to take it from her?"

Naomi rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the girl. "First off, the only sluts in this school are you and your friends. Get a life; Hiei and Shuichi have better things to do than waste time around you. You aren't even their type." She told the girl in a cool, collected voice and stepped away from her. "And second, you're friend deserved the fat lip I gave her. I actually hate that I had to waste time on trash like her but it was necessary and she got what she deserved."

At this point Marie was turning an odd shade of red and Naomi was wondering if she was going to physically explode. Deciding it was best to finish this now she readjusted the bag on her shoulder and started to walk away. With one last glance she called out, "I suggest you and your friends leave me and the boys alone, otherwise a fat lip will look like a blessing."

With that she walked off to her next class getting a worried glance as she saw Keiko down the hallway going between classes. She shook her head and Keiko gave her a nod before disappearing in the crowd. "This isn't over Takada!" She could hear Marie yelling at her over the crowd.

"I expected as much." She muttered to herself and ignored the girl; focused on walking to class.

The rest of the day went fairly well. She had received a couple of threats and glares from girls in both Marie's group and girls that were in the fan clubs for either Hiei or Kurama. Both were usual, just very annoying. Finally the day was done and Naomi went back to her homeroom class to see what her teacher had wanted of her. Keiko would wait for a while so she could walk home with her friend.

After a quick knock on the door, Naomi entered and went to stand in front of the teacher's desk. He looked up from the papers he received that day and told her to take a seat while he finished. Naomi sat at one of the desks in the front row and waited. It was only a few minutes before Mr. Hatomi put down his pen and stood up.

"I wanted to speak to you about your inattentiveness in the mornings." He said walking over to the desk that she was at. "I know that school has only been going for a few weeks and I'm not very familiar with your habits, but you seem to be very distracted these past few days. And I'm concerned about your grades, I expected a good deal out of such a bright student such as yourself. You started out so well, one of the best students in class actually, and in the last couple weeks your grades have dropped down to average."

He trailed his fingers over a few desks as he walked to the window and looked out at the students hurrying off campus. "Is something bothering you? Something at home maybe? At school? With your friends or peers?"

He made his way behind the desk she was at and placed his hands on her shoulders as if to be supportive and comforting. "Whatever it is can be just between you and me. I won't tell unless it's absolutely necessary for your health."

He began to massage her shoulders and she tensed feeling a bit uncomfortable. "There's nothing going on, I just naturally get distracted." She told him in a bit of a clipped tone. She tried to shrug his hands off but he held them in place. "Is there anything else you need or can I leave now? I've got homework to do."

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me anything." He whispered in her ear. "That's what I'm here for, to help you. That's my job after all and I can keep a secret." His hand traveled down her shoulder as held her into the chair. "Or we can find some way to help you make up your grades."

His hand slid into the top of her school blouse and she jumped, falling off the chair and removing his grip from her. "Mr. Hatomi!" She squeaked in surprise, but before she could say anything else he grabbed her and pulled her into a rough kiss.

Naomi heard the door slam open and looked over as the teacher turned towards the door. Hiei and Kurama were standing in the doorway with Yusuke, Kuwabara and Keiko right behind them. Mr. Hatomi tightened his grip on her arms and glared at the people who intruded. They came the rest of the way in and closed the door behind them before anyone could notice what was going on.

"Sorry to interrupt but somehow I don't think this is the school system's idea of extra credit." Yusuke said angrily. He had Keiko tucked behind him so that she was kept out of the teacher's sights.

"Guys…" Naomi whispered as tears reached the edges of her eyes in relief. She was worried as to where the teacher was going with this display. She was so grateful to have friends that would rescue her when she was in trouble.

"Mr. Hatomi, if you would please let Miss Takada go, we will take our leave." Kurama said calmly as if they were discussing her being in detention rather than her current situation. Mr. Hatomi knew that he was out matched, even if they were just students, and let Naomi go. "Please back away from her so she can leave." Kurama continued.

Mr. Hatomi complied and backed away from the girl. Naomi grabbed onto the arm of the person nearest to her, which happened to be Hiei and refused to let go. "Miss Narakata was right, you are a whore. I guess I'm just not good enough for a slut who has the most desirable boys doing her am I?" He sneered at her. She stared at him, mouth agape at the words he was saying.

Keiko rushed up with Yusuke and Kuwabara while Hiei and Kurama watched the teacher. She grabbed Naomi by the arm, gently coaxing her away from Hiei while Kuwabara took her bag and they led her out of the classroom.

Keiko was saying soft, soothing words to her to keep her moving. Once they were to the door Yusuke stopped Kuwabara. "Hey, take them outside and wait for us. We've got something to do before we leave."

"Urameshi," Kuwabara muttered and stared at the man in the classroom. "Give him one for me too."

Yusuke nodded with his hand on the door and gave him a 'thumbs up' sign. "You got it, just keep the girls safe."

Kuwabara nodded and took the girls outside while Yusuke shut the door behind him. "Sheesh," he said as they walked out of the school building. "You'd think they'd do some kind of background check on their teachers or something." He muttered as the door closed behind him.

Satisfied that the girls were safe, Yusuke returned to the situation at hand. Hiei and Kurama were already well in the room with the teacher cornered against the wall. "Alright, I'm only going to say this once," He said and gave the teacher a restrained punch. It wouldn't do good to get arrested for killing the guy. "Don't you ever lay another hand on her or your body will never be found."

Hiei drew his sword from under his cloak and placed the blade against the man's throat. "If you so much as look at her the wrong way I will slit your throat and leave you for the dogs." He threatened, leaving a small nick on the man's collarbone to make a point, and then left before he did more.

"I must agree with them." Kurama stated calmly. "You were misinformed as to the kind of person Naomi is and for that I will make you pay, but should this happen again I will make sure your life is a living Hell."

With that all said Yusuke and Kurama followed Hiei out the door, leaving a much shaken teacher alone with his thoughts and words of warning.

Naomi leaned up against a tree that had grown next to the wall by the entrance to the school. Keiko was talking gently to her and promising her that everything would be okay. When she saw the boys coming, Naomi tensed and watched Hiei approach.

Concerned the fire demon used his abilities to sense her emotions. He was well aware that after these situations, females often become afraid of men for a time. He worried that she was beginning to fear them now too.

He sensed that she was upset over having grabbed onto him and acting so weak; she actually believed that he thought less of her because she had panicked and showed fear. Mentally shaking his head he came up next to her and put his hand on her shoulder, bathing it in warmth.

"You're alright." He muttered just loud enough for her to hear. "He won't mess with you again anytime soon."

Nodding Naomi grabbed onto his arm for comfort just as Keiko was pushing the rest to be nice and just walk home. After a few minutes Naomi was able to pull herself together and with a final squeeze of Hiei's arm she let him go and went to walk with Keiko.

"Hey Kuwabara, I can take my bag back now." She said in a cheery voice. She wasn't going to let some idiot get the better of her. "It's not fair for you to have to carry it all the way home for me."

"huh?" Kuwabara said not putting together what she had said for a moment. "Oh this? Nah it's fine."

Naomi shrugged and shook her head. The guys, except for Hiei, seemed to be on edge around her as if they weren't sure as to how she was feeling. "Guys I'm fine." She announced and watched as the tension visibly disappeared between the three boys.

"Are you sure Naomi?" Kurama ask gently. "We weren't sure what exactly had happened before we showed up."

She shrugged as if nothing happened or that it was nothing new. "He hit on me and you guys came in on the worst of it." She made a face. She could feel a slight tingle in the back of her mind and knew Hiei was checking on her again to make sure she was okay. "I'll have to brush my teeth for days to get the feel of his lips off of them, and that breath…yuck!"

The others chuckled and laughed, just like she had hoped they would. They continued to talk lightly about the rest of the day until they came up to a corner. Kurama and Hiei exchanged goodbyes and promises to meet up in the morning to walk to school before heading off to Kurama's house.

The others continued down a bit until they came to Kuwabara's turn off. The three friends said goodbye to him and waved at his sister Shizuru down the street as she was unlocking the door. She often got home around the same time Kuwabara did.

Keiko's turn was a few minutes down the street. She and Naomi hugged and she lectured Yusuke about being ready for school on time, and then hurried home with a wave. Naomi laughed as she and Yusuke traveled a couple more blocks before reaching the corner to her house. It was only a couple houses away from the corner.

"Hey, that car doesn't look familiar." Yusuke muttered. Naomi frowned, she didn't know of anyone coming over today.

"Maybe it's just a friend of my mom's." She said thinking out loud. "I think one of them was supposed to be having a baby or in surgery or something. She went to visit someone last week at the hospital."

"You think so?" Yusuke asked unsure. He had been protective of her since they were little kids. If it hadn't been for him running her stepfather out of town a few years back she probably would've been dead by now. It had been a few years since he had last tried to force his way back into their lives but anytime someone was at the house Yusuke would get protective.

"Yeah, I think its fine." Naomi said and gave him a small smile. "I'll be okay, I promise. I'm sure it's just someone visiting."

Yusuke didn't look convinced. "You sure you don't want me to come in with you?" He asked. Something was nagging at him and he was worried.

"Nah, its fine. I'll see you tomorrow k?" She said and readjusted her bag.

"Alright but if anything isn't right I want you to run got it?" Yusuke said seriously. He still hadn't forgotten how bad she had been the last time her stepfather had shown up and wasn't ready to risk it again. He ruffled her hair as she started walking towards the house.

"I promise!" She called and hurried home.

"See ya tomorrow kid!" Yusuke called and turned to head home.

Naomi reached the house and hesitated. There was a cold chill down her back and something didn't feel right as she opened the door. Looking around everything was dark and quiet. The bad feeling returned and she called out, "Mom? Are you home?"

"In the kitchen." Her mom's voice wavered a little as she called out. Naomi dropped her bag by the door and cautiously walked into the kitchen. As she entered she saw her mom on the far side of the kitchen, a few tears running down her face. There was a man in front of her, shadowed by the low lighting.

Naomi moved so her back was to the door in case she needed to run. "Mom," She asked hesitantly, afraid she knew the answer to her question. "Who is this?"

The shadow moved and her mother hid her face in her hands. Naomi caught a glimpse of blood on her lip. She turned to the shadowed figure, ready to fight. "Don't you recognize your own father?"

Naomi froze at the voice for a moment before pulling herself out of it and going on the defensive. She was not going to leave her mother with this man for any reason. "You're not my father." She spit at the man. "You're nothing like him. He was a better man than you could ever hope to be."

If she hadn't been sure that Yusuke was already home and probably passed out in his room she'd have called out for him, but she was going to have to fight her own battles this time. She could see that the man was getting angry at her cheap shots but better her than her mother. "What's wrong Cain? Couldn't get your latest bitch to put up with you? Or did she manage to kick your ass out?"

By this time Cain had turned red and had clenched his fist, but Naomi continued. If she got him mad enough maybe he'd do something stupid and she'd stand a fighting chance. "Who would want to get with someone with a face like yours anyways? It looks like something a cat would use for a scratching post then piss on."

Cain storm towards her and Naomi had the minor thought of maybe she took it a bit too far. "Why you little brat! I'll make you pay for your wise cracks." He cracked his knuckles as he loomed over her. "It seems we had forgotten our lessons in respect since I've been gone. It's not like your mother would teach you any manners. She's just too weak to handle a delinquent like you."

Naomi had backed up until the wall was behind her, but his remarks about her mother made her forget that she was trying to throw him off his game. Instead she let out a cry of fury and lunged at him.

**Chapter 1 End!**

Lune: Okay so this is not where I originally wanted to stop but I was forced to because with the improvements I've made to my writing the chapter was getting too long and the next part didn't really have a good stopping point sooo…please look for the next update and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2: Hiei to the Rescue

Lune: Okay so here's the continuation for chapter 1. It's got some more details and hopefully it will make up for the fact that I left everyone off with a cliffhanger. I think the first part of this works better for the second chapter anyways. So please enjoy!

Legend:

"Talking"

'Telepathic Speak'

_Thinking to oneself_

_**Dream/Memories**_

**YYH** = Pagebreak/Scene Change/Etc

**Chapter 2: Hiei to the Rescue**

**YYH School the next morning**

"Has anyone seen Naomi?" Kurama asked with concern. Kurama and Hiei had arrived early that day so they could avoid the worst of the fan girls. "She normally isn't late for school."

The others shook their heads. When she hadn't shown up at their usual spot that morning they thought that maybe she had left early. It was Friday and they had several classes giving tests, so it wasn't unusual for her to be at the school ahead of them.

"I haven't seen her since I dropped her off at home." Yusuke said wondering about the car. "I didn't think much of it because she thought it might be a friend of her mom's but there was a strange car in the driveway when we got there."

"A strange car?" Hiei muttered to himself, catching Kurama's attention. Before they continue to discuss it the door opened and revealed Naomi. She had a split lip and a bruise on her cheek near her temple. The group was out of their chairs and hurried over.

Naomi frowned at her friends. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked like they were ready to pummel something and she could see matching anger in Kurama and Hiei's eyes though the latter didn't even bother to conceal it as he usually did. Keiko just fussed over her asking what happened.

'Whoever did this will pay dearly.' Hiei thought to himself. He only had a few people he'd kill for and cared about, Naomi and Yukina being the two that he was more protective over. He valued Naomi's friendship with Yukina even though she knew that she was his sister and still agreed to keep his secret; under special conditions of course.

"Guys I'm fine." She muttered to them. "Sorry I'm late I overslept and got jumped on the way to school. Don't worry I didn't go down easy, you should see the other guys." She finished with a halfhearted grin. She knew it was a lame excuse but it was the best she had.

She knew they didn't believe her but without proof they didn't have much to go on so she went to go to her seat. Her knee was hurt and she knew she couldn't hide her limp from them completely, especially Hiei and Kurama, but she was giving it her best.

_She's lying. _Hiei stated to Kurama mentally and got a slight nod in reply.

Kurama thought for a moment before responding. _It couldn't be _him_ could it?_ He asked but knew Hiei agreed with his suspicions just by the murderous look in his eyes.

_He wouldn't dare to show his face around here after last time._ Hiei said referring to the last time Cain had shown up and they were forced to scare him and his daughter to get out of town. _Then again, if he thought it was worth the risk, he might just be stupid enough to come back._

They took their seats around Naomi as the bell rang for class to start. The teacher was very careful to keep his eyes from landing on Naomi or her friends for any more than a second or two at a time. Fear of them just radiated throughout the room and seemed to improve Hiei's vindictive mood.

Naomi had worked hard to keep her mind focused on the lesson rather than what happened. She had been aware of Hiei's abilities for years now and knew how to work around them. She also knew that he respected her enough to not push if she was keeping him out.

After class Naomi quickly packed up and left before the others could continue to question her. She knew it would add to their suspicions more but she really didn't want to play twenty questions and have them find out about Cain until she knew what she had wanted to do about him herself. Unfortunately the boys, who were all faster than her on a good day, caught up with her before she could make it more than two doors down from the classroom.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had study hall with her so she wasn't surprised when they stood to either side of her. "Naomi, what's wrong with you today?" Yusuke demanded. "Do you really expect us to believe that you were attacked on your way to school? There are not many people who would go against us like that you know? Even I'm smart enough to put together that something went on last night."

Before she could respond Kuwabara butted in on the conversation. "Yeah, besides who would dare to lay a hand on 'The Great Naomi Takada'!" he said posing for her. She gave him a smile and shook her head while Yusuke rolled his eyes at Kuwabara.

"Besides kid, you're almost as good a fighter as I am." Yusuke ruffled her hair and she ducked cheering up a bit. "Not to mention you can beat Kuwabara with hardly any trouble and hold your own with Shuichi."

"Hah, even a two year old could be Kuwabaka." said a female voice from behind them. The boys stopped in their tracks and a look of disbelief crossed their faces. Naomi groaned and the three of them turned to face the owner of the voice. "And Urameshi isn't much smarter than Carrot top over there."

"Ivy!?" The boys yelled together, getting the attention of everyone in the hallway. Noami ignored them and glared at her stepsister. The girl stood a few inches taller than Naomi, who was pretty short to begin with barely the same height as Hiei, had light blonde hair and caramel colored eyes. As sweet her eye color was, the girl was anything but.

Yusuke clenched his fist and took his position in front of Naomi, who grabbed his arm to stop him from attacking. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought we chased you and your father off for good!"

"Wait," Kuwabara said confused, "if she's here than that means…"

Yusuke glanced between an ashamed Naomi and Kuwabara who was becoming angrier by the second.

"Sorry guys." Naomi said hanging her head. "Cain is back, that was his car in the driveway." She looked up at Ivy. "So if you're here does that mean Adrian is with you too?"

Ivy crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the side. "Yeah that good for nothing brother of mine is here too. I don't know why father keeps him around though, he's too soft." She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and examined Naomi.

"It looks like father had a little fun with you before we could get home." She smirked at her. "Too bad it took most of the night to finish moving things to our new place. I wish Father would just let us stay with him at your house, it's a bit nicer. And that mother of yours is a good obedient whore."

"You bitch." Naomi yelled and flew across the hall to punch Ivy in the face, quickly following the attack up with a kick to the stomach that caused the girl to spit out some blood and stumble to the ground.

"You whore!" Ivy yelled and retaliated with a punch to the girl's bad knee and, regaining her footing, backhanded her across the face. Before she could hit Naomi again, a hand grabbed her wrist tight enough that it felt like it would break any second.

Ivy turned her head a bit to see Hiei behind her with his hand around her wrist. His eyes were practically glowing with hate and anger. "Hi…Hiei…" She squeaked in fear.

"Hn, I see you remember me." Hiei growled just low enough for them to hear. "Too bad it seems you have forgotten what happened last time you dared to lay a hand on Naomi. Maybe I'll have to remind you." He finished with a dangerous voice, almost purring, in her ear before shoving her to the ground.

Ivy was shaking in fear and holding her wrist. It took a moment for her brain to catch on to the fact that she should run. She stumbled to her feet and took a few steps back from the group. Glaring at Naomi she stutters out, "Wait….wait until daddy hears about this you little bitch. I'm sure he won't be happy with you." She sneered and ran off through the crowd that had surrounded them.

After the girl left everyone started to disperse to their classrooms. Hiei turned his glare onto Naomi who hung her head ashamed. She knew she should have told them but she just couldn't bring herself to do it earlier.

"Care to explain how that bastard is back and we weren't told about it before his worthless spawn showed up?" Hiei demanded coldly. Naomi could tell he was pissed and hated that it was at her. Yusuke and Kuwabara had been supporting Naomi while Hiei had dealt with the girl and were starting to get upset at Hiei's attack.

Kurama simply cleared his throat to get everyone's attention; he knew that this was Hiei's normal reaction to any threat against Yukina or Naomi. The fire demon just didn't know how to handle the girls being at risk and not being able to kill the one doing it. "I was merely going to say, don't be too harsh on her. It appears she needs some time to recover from her ordeal."

Before Hiei could argue with the fox Naomi piped up. "It's alright Shuichi, Hiei's right. I should have said something when I came in this morning." She tried to take a step forward, removing the support she had from the boys. If she was going to face Hiei she wanted to do it on her own power. Once their support was gone the world began to spin and Hiei caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Thanks." She whispered to him, working hard to keep him in focus. It didn't take long for darkness to take over and she passed out for the moment.

Kurama frowned and glanced at Yusuke. "Please tell your teacher that Naomi had to go home early. Just tell him she isn't feeling well." He told the detective as Hiei scooped the girl up into his arms, her head resting against his shoulder.

Yusuke nodded gravely and looked at the girl in Hiei's arms. "Sure, no problem. You just take care of her you hear?" He said and the two of them headed to class. Kurama nodded with a smile.

"Foolish child." He said affectionately as he moved a strand of hair out of her face. He was not happy with the bruises he found. He looked at Hiei and the fire demon saw the mix of emotions running through his friend's eyes. "I'm going to go check us out, meet me in front of the school."

Hiei watched him walk off, leaving him alone with Naomi. With a sigh he took her outside and was waiting by the gate, under the shade of the tree when she woke up. He set her down and had her pinned against the pillar. Naomi was shaky but she was able to hold herself up with the pillar behind her.

"Start talking." Hiei demanded. "Is Cain the one who did this to you? How long has he been back and why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you take the detective with you for that matter? He would have been able to handle that ass with no trouble." He shot the questions out at her, not giving her a chance to answer. "And no more lying to me. I want the truth from you girl."

Naomi felt even worse at him calling her 'girl'. It had been a long time since he'd used it that way for her and she knew that she had royally screwed up. She sighed and resolved herself to giving him the complete truth, come what may.

"He was there yesterday when I got home." She told him quietly. "I didn't know it was his car. He'd been gone so long I didn't think he was coming back. You're right, I should have had Yusuke come in with me but I ignored the bad feeling I had and sent him home. I didn't want to believe that something might be wrong."

She took a hesitant breath before continuing. "I didn't lie about mom's friend being in the hospital and I didn't lie about the car. I just didn't listen to my instincts and I should have. I went in and called for mom. She said she was in the kitchen so I couldn't just leave, even when I knew something was wrong. It went downhill from there. I just…I just couldn't beat him."

She told her story and as she finished, the stress, pain and exhaustion, had her eyes watering. She bowed her head to hide it and when she looked up, Hiei had backed away from her. He was still close enough to catch her but far enough away for the anxious Kurama to have not seen the questioning.

He had three notes in his hand and both their bags over his shoulder. He hurried over to where they were and gave her a quick visual once over. "We're going to head to my house since it's the closest. How are you feeling?"

"I can make it." She said stubbornly and pushed herself away from the pillar. She tried to take her bag from him but he insisted on carrying it. Shaking her head she started walking towards his house and the two demons took up their posts on either side of her, allowing her to take her time walking back.

Once they reached Kurama's house and she was safely in his room, he closed the door and pointed to the bed. "Sit." He commanded and she obediently sat down.

It was fortunate that his mother wasn't home; she didn't need to worry about Naomi at the moment. The last time Cain had been there, his mother and worried herself sick about the girl and had Kurama and his step-father fussing over her and trying to get her to relax. He really didn't want a repeat.

Shuffling through his drawers, Kurama carefully selected a pair of shorts that would fit her and a loose red tank top that he had originally bought for Hiei. It was fortunate that the fire demon had left a couple changes of clothes at his house. He gave them to Naomi and told her to change while he and Hiei waited outside the room.

She called them back in a couple minutes later and saw that Kurama had made use of the time by dragging in his enormously overstocked first aid kit. He blushed a little when he saw that she hadn't used the tank top, just removed her shirt, revealing a black sports bra. It covered everything so she wasn't embarrassed as much but they quickly saw the reason for leaving a shirt off.

Everywhere on her ribs, stomach, chest and back sported dark bruises; there were even some on her arms and shoulders that looked like handprints. Kurama set the kit on the bed next to her and sighed. "I need to examine some of these injuries. I'll try to be gentle but many of these don't look good so I'm apologizing in advance for any pain I cause."

Naomi nodded and gritted her teeth as cleaned a few cuts before poking and prodding at the rest of the bruises. Naomi worked hard to avoid more than a small whimper as he touched each of the bruises. She did well until he placed his hand on her ribs. She surprised him by jumping and letting out a yelp. He looked at her apologetically and inspected her ribs more closely before moving to her legs.

Hiei leaned against the wall next to the window. He was restraining himself from pulling the fox away from her by imagining every form of torture he knew and using it on the man who dared to do this to her. He was pulled from his thoughts twice more by her cries, once on the knee and once on the ankle of the same leg.

"Fox?" Hiei asked in a very strained voice. He didn't need to elaborate for Kurama to know what he was asking. Kurama stood up and walked over to Hiei, giving the girl a small break.

"Well fortunately I believe the terrible bruise on her shoulder is just a bad bruise." Kurama started going in order from top to bottom. "Bruised ribs are a problem as I believe at least one to be cracked, possibly broken. But there isn't much that can be done for that anyways."

Hiei mentally took note of each serious injury as Kurama continued. "Her knee looks like it was dislocated and her ankle appears to have a bad sprain." They both sent her a glare over the knee issue and she played off as being innocent. "The rest is just bruising; they'll heal on their own in a few days."

Kurama glanced at his friend and saw death for anyone who got in his way of vengeance. He set his hand on the fire demon's shoulder for a moment to pull him out of his train of thought before returning to Naomi's side. Before he could tell her what needed to be done she spoke up. "Just get it over with. Nothing I say will make a difference anyways."

The red head smiled and muttered something before putting bandages on the open wounds. She helped him as much as she could and suffered through it quietly until he finished wrapping her ribs. The sudden tension on them caused her to flinch and work around the restriction.

Kurama heard a small growl coming from Hiei at the girl's reaction and hoped he wouldn't take it out on him. 'Watch yourself fox.' Hiei's voice growled through his mind. Kurama sighed at his protectiveness and decided that giving him a hard time would do more than a lecture.

'Forgive me Hiei.' He answered back calmly and collected. 'I wasn't trying to hurt her, of course I would never think to hurt your girl.'

It took half a second for his words to sink in and he could tell that Hiei's feathers were ruffled. 'Hn, who said she was mine?' The fire demon replied. 'I have no claim over her other than my protection.'

Naomi held back a yelp as Kurama's hand grazed over her swollen knee. She pulled away as he touched the bruising at least an inch below the knee itself. She watched as he frowned and could almost swear that she heard Hiei growling.

"You're going to need a brace for that knee of yours." Kurama told her with a frown. "I'll wrap it up for now but you'll need to stay off that leg as much as you possibly can. I'm surprised the damage isn't worse with you walking on it."

Naomi nodded and held still as Kurama wrapped her knee and ankle as gently as he could. "I think you should stay here for a bit." He said to her as he stood up. "At least that way I know you're protected and Cain has no idea where I live."

Noticing that Kurama was blushing slightly now that his work was done, she quickly grabbed up the shirt that he gave her and slipped it on. He gently set his hand on her head before packing up his supplies. He slid the kit upright under his desk for later use if needed. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours so you can call your mother and tell her you are safe. Perhaps she'll have somewhere that she can stay for a bit until we get this sorted out."

He didn't wait for a response before leaving the room, she knew that he was giving her a direct order, and as much as she disliked it she knew he was right and she had already screwed up enough for one day. Hiei stayed in the room with her after their friend walked out.

"Thanks Hiei." She whispered as she fell asleep. Hiei didn't say anything, he just watched her for a moment before leaving the room as well. He closed the door behind him and went to speak to the fox demon.

**End Chapter 2!**

**Lune: **Okay so that's the end of chapter 2…wow this story is going to be so much longer than it was before and that's without all the new stuff. I'm trying hard to keep these chapters between 3-4k words because otherwise they would just run on and on. In fact if I had kept with the old cut off points chapter 1 would have been nearly 6 thousand words!

So everyone please enjoy and please review, reviews make me so happy and encourage me to write more despite my busy schedule! Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3: Surprises and more Surprises

Lune: Okay so here is chapter 3, hopefully I can get some balance and improve on my mistakes from the first attempt at this story. So everyone please enjoy!

Legend:

"Talking"

'Telepathic Speak'

_Thinking to oneself_

_**Dream/Memories**_

**YYH** = Pagebreak/Scene Change/Etc

**Chapter 3: Surprises and more surprises **

"Naomi, wake up." Kurama said as he shook Naomi gently. She sat up stiffly and rubbed her eyes. Looking around she was a bit confused until she saw him standing over her and the events of the past few hours came crashing back.

"Is something wrong Kurama?" She asked him with a yawn. She hadn't recovered a lot since she didn't sleep well the night before and Kurama had only gotten her a few hours before having to wake her up. She glanced around to see that Hiei was back against the wall as if he had never left.

He handed her a phone and she took it confused. Trying to remember everything while not being fully awake was always a strain on her. "Call your mom. Tell her you're staying at a friend's house, Keiko's would probably be best."

"Okay," Naomi said and dialed the house phone. Her mom's voice came over the line and she sounded worried but not scared. "Hey mom, do you care if I stay at Keiko's tonight...yeah it's okay with them…sure mom…yeah, okay…and hey mom…go stay at a friend's house until Cain leaves again please, I don't want you getting hurt…oh?"

The two demons went on high alert as a look of surprised crossed her face and she dropped the phone, barely catching it before it hit the floor. "What?! What do you mean she's here…okay I'll be there shortly then…no, no, I'll find a place for them to stay, Adrian too. Don't worry about it mom, just get yourself safe…love you too."

She hung up the phone and looked at them. "Um guys, I need to go home for just a few minutes. Something's come up." She told them as she stood up and pulled her uniform on over the shorts she was wearing.

"You're not going anywhere near there on'na, not until that pile of shit is gone for good." Hiei decreed. Naomi croaked out a small noise of outrage but before she could object Kurama added onto it.

"What Hiei means is that there needs to be a good reason for you to rush back there." Kurama told her and gave Hiei a reproachful glance. The fire demon knew better than to challenge or order the girl if he wanted her to do something. "It's not a good idea for you to return, especially not knowing if Cain will be there."

"I have to and I am." Naomi shot at the two of them, her eyes aflame with determination. "I need to be there Hiei, please understand. I trust you with my life so please just trust me with this. I know what I am doing."

She started for the door and the two of them blocked her. "What could be so important that you are running back into a dangerous situation?" Kurama demanded. It was never good when Kurama got involved in an argument.

"Kana's here and unprotected at the house. I have to leave now." She said and despite her injuries, she maneuvered around them and out the door. She was down the stairs before they could follow her and she ignored their calls for her to wait. She never saw Hiei following her as she made her way down the street and to her house.

She cautiously opened the door to her house and walked inside. She was on full alert not knowing if anyone was home or if there was a trap set. "Mom? Are you still here?" She called out and when she received no answer she left the door open behind her and began searching the house.

She entered the living room to see her stepfather with a knife to one girl's throat as Ivy was tying Adrian up to a solid chair. The girl her stepfather was holding was about five foot three with light brown hair and green eyes. At the moment she had on a plain red shirt with dark blue jeans. Her shoulder length hair was pulled into a ponytail and the bangs were kept back by sunglasses on her head.

Adrian was even more stunning with his golden hair and sky blue eyes. He would be five foot eight when he was standing and was nicely built without being overly muscled. Naomi knew that despite the rough looks of his face he was really extremely kind. He had on a dirty white t-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans.

"Let them go." She growled at her stepfather and stepsister. They had their backs to her so they hadn't noticed her making her way into the room. Cain was surprised enough that he accidently nicked the flesh on Kana's throat, letting a small drop of blood trickle down her neckline.

After her initial start, Ivy finished tying up Adrian and swung Kana out of her father's arms before placing her in a second chair and tying her to it, ignoring Naomi completely.

"If you want them so badly, come and fight me for them." Cain taunted her. "We both know how well that worked out for you last night. Oh and I love the advice you gave your mother, too bad that I managed to get home before she could leave."

Naomi's mind went blank with rage. "I'll gladly fight you and take you down." She told him in a strained voice. She was wishing that she had thought to grab Hiei's sword. He kept it stored at Kurama's house on school days so she was sure that he was wearing it when she left. He probably would have even let her borrow it had she told him it was for Cain.

Cain dropped to a very offensive stance, holding the knife in front of him. Ivy went and sat on the ledge to the fireplace, using the pile of logs next to it to get on top of the bricks. Just as Cain lunged forward to attack, the sound of glass breaking filled her ears, she braced herself for the bite of steel but when nothing came she looked up to see Hiei standing in front of her. "Hiei…you came…" She whispered so quietly he almost didn't hear the relief in her voice.

Hiei quickly dodged around the man and with a single hit, sent him flying across the room to hit the fireplace. The impact knocked him out and Ivy lost her balance, landing next to him on the floor.

"Daddy?" She whimpered and tried to shake him awake. When she had no success she turned her hateful gaze towards Hiei. "I'll get you for this! You'll pay!" She cried and ran at Hiei, wielding a fire poker in her hands that she had grabbed while standing.

Hiei easily dodged her attack and sent her flying into the nearest wall. Reaching down he wrapped his fingers around her throat and raised her up, pressing her against the wall. Barely conscious she weakly grabbed at his hand in an attempt to get air. "Don't ever come near this family again." He said as she passed out.

He let her drop to the floor and backed away to go check on Naomi. He turned to her, "Are you alright?" She nodded and hurried to his side to thank him. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the dagger sticking out of his side. Hiei wrapped his cloak around it and tried to hide it from her.

"Hiei," She said grabbing his arm and trying to look at how bad the damage was. "You're hurt…"

The knife hadn't reached too deep, there hadn't been enough force to get past his ribcage, so Hiei ripped the knife out with a grunt and dropped it to the floor. "There, problem solved, now let's get this over with."

"Hey!" Kana called from the chairs across the room. "If you two lovebirds are finished fussing over each other would you mind getting us out of here?"

Hiei could barely see the light blush from Naomi at the comment and decided to have a little fun with the captives for Kana's little joke. He walked over to Adrian and drew his sword while Naomi worked to untie Kana.

Adrian began squirming around on the seat, he'd always been a little nervous around Hiei as it was. "Um, Naomi? Seriously, he's got a freaking sword! Naomi? Naomi!" He cried out as Hiei sliced the ropes off of him without even touching the boy's skin.

Naomi just rolled her eyes as she let the ropes fall to the ground and Kana flew in her arms. It took a few minutes to calm the girl.

**YYH A little bit later**

"He could have killed me with that thing." Adrian grumbled for the tenth time since he had been released. "Don't you even care? What kind of person carries a sword around nowadays anyways?"

Naomi just rolled her eyes. She had won the argument with Hiei and was doing a quick cleanup of the wound. Adrian and Kana had the great pleasure of tying up Cain and Ivy while she worked on Hiei.

"That should hold for a while." She said as she tied off the bandage and let Hiei put his shirt back on. "At least until we can get to Kurama's house. I'm sure he could do better than I can."

"Hn." Was all Hiei said as he contemplated just killing the two captives.

She turned to Adrian who was still complaining and said with a bit of a growl, "Would you please shut up already? I get it but Hiei did just save all our asses, I doubt he'd do it just to kill you afterwards."

_Then again he might just do that if Adrian doesn't shut up soon._ She thought to herself and then shrugged it off. Adrian decided it would be best to follow her advice and shut up.

"What are we doing with these two morons?" Hiei asked as he indicated the two people who were tied up. "I doubt you want to bring them back to Kurama's place." A look crossed his face that was a mix of vindictive and eager. "Or I could slit their throats now and no one would ever find the bodies."

Kana got nervous as she was unsure whether Hiei was joking or not, Adrian quickly objected and Naomi just shook her head at the hopeful look that finally settled on the demons face. "No, I'm calling the cops and having them arrested. Hopefully we have enough evidence to put them away for a good while."

She picked up the phone and made a quick call to the local police. She hung up before they could ask more than her name and address. "Alright, I'm sure they'll be here soon so let's high tail it. If they see how badly hurt Hiei and I are they'll make us go to the emergency room and I don't feel like sitting there all night."

Before they left Naomi remembered what Cain said about her mother and did a quick search of the house. She found a note that her mother left in a secret hiding spot in the hall closet. It said that she left to her friend's house and to stay away from their home. Adrian hadn't seen her and he had arrived just before Cain did.

Naomi decided to call the one friend her mom had that would hide her from Cain when they got back to Kurama's. They had wasted enough time already and she had a strong feeling her mother was safe.

They walked back in silence and, upon arriving, Naomi knocked on the door. After a few minutes Shiori answered, Naomi bowed and greeted the woman. "Hello Mrs. Minamino. Is Shuichi home? He asked us to stop by after school today." She said politely, noticing that even Hiei gave the woman a polite greeting.

"Oh, Naomi, Hiei, how are you doing?" She said with a bit of surprise. "Suichi is up in his room, please, come in, come in. Who are your friends?" she asked ushering the kids in.

"Mrs. Minamino, this is my brother Adrian and my friend Kana. Her mom and mine grew up together so she's more of a sister than a friend." Naomi said introducing them.

"It's lovely to meet you both." Shiori said lightly clapping her hands together in front of her. "Why don't you four go head and go up to Shuichi's room? He's up there right now and I'm sure he's waiting for you. Please let me know if you need anything."

They thanked her and followed Naomi upstairs to Kurama's room. She knocked on the closed door and waited for him to open it. It only took a few seconds for him to arrive at the door and he was surprised to see two more people with Hiei and Naomi. He moved aside and invited them all in, closing the door behind him.

"Welcome," he said to the newcomers. "I'm Shuichi Minamino, pleased to meet you."

After introductions were made, Kana asked the question that had been bothering her for a while. "So if you're Shuichi, who's Kurama?"

An amused look passed the fox's face while Hiei and Naomi realized their mistake. "I am. Shuichi is my real name but for a certain group of friends I am Kurama. It's a bit of an inside joke and hard to explain."

"oh," said Kana. "So do which one should we call you? It's kinda confusing that you have two names. They must get mixed up all the time."

"If it's just us then Kurama is fine, but with others around its best if you call me Shuichi." Kurama replied and smiled warmly to her. "I'd rather not have to explain the name to everyone we meet and it would hurt mother's feelings if she thought I didn't like my name."

Kana nodded and gave him a big smile. Once introductions were out of the way, the girls sat on the bed while Adrian took the desk chair and Kurama sat in a reading chair that he pulled from the corner of the room. Hiei opted to lean against the wall like he had earlier.

After they were seated Naomi decided to ask Kana about her visit. "So Kana, mom said it was sudden otherwise she would have picked you up at the airport, but she didn't say what happened. How come you had to come here so suddenly? And where's Kala? Did something happen? Is she alright?"

Tears welled up in Kana's eyes as she shook her head. "It wasn't Kala, it was mom." She said and Naomi wrapped an arm around her friend, pulling her close.

"What happened? Is Julia alright?" She asked afraid to know the answer.

"A few days ago, there was a drive by and you know just how bad our neighborhood can be. I don't know how they got ahold of a car but a bunch of teenage boys were out 'just having fun'." She choked out and the boys gave her their full attention.

"Kala and I were upstairs working on a project together for school. We heard the car, then the shots and glass breaking. Mom had just walked in the door and called up to us to say she was home. Kala had seen the car through the window and waited until it was gone for us to go downstairs. Mom was…it was horrible…" She burst into tears and Naomi held her as tears slid down her face as well.

"Oh Kana, I'm so sorry to hear that." She muttered in the girl's ear. "Do you know if they caught the boys?"

She knew Kana and Kala lived in America. Their dad had been an American business man who had come to Japan for a business trip and stayed for a while on vacation. He'd met their mother and the two fell in love.

She agreed to leave Japan with him under the condition that they come to visit yearly. So, every summer, they had come back to visit her family and teach the girls of their Japanese heritage. It was devastating to hear about their mother because their father had died a couple years before in an accident. They were supposed to move back to Japan with their mother sometime in the next year once she had gotten everything sorted out.

"They didn't catch them but Kala had stayed behind to give them some more information and take care of things before she left. They agreed to let us leave because our only family is in Japan. I guess that's the downside to being the oldest huh?" At seventeen, Kala was a year older than both Naomi and Kana.

"We're supposed to go stay with Grandma until Kala and I graduate and can get our own place." Kana said as her tears began to stop. She wiped them away and stood up. "Suichi, may I use your restroom to clean up?"

Kurama stood up and walked her to the door. "It's that door right across the hall. Take your time and I'm sorry about your mother. I understand how you feel, just let me know if you want to talk." He said the last bit to her quietly.

Kana nodded and hurried out of the room. Seconds later they could hear the door to the bathroom open and close with a click.

"Those bastards, I swear if I ever get my hands on them I'll make them suffer for a very long time." Naomi growled once Kana was safely out of ear shot. At a glance the girl's eyes seemed to burn with raging green light. "Once I was done with them they'd be begging for me to kill them. I'd make sure they'd never be able to fire a gun again in their pathetic, worthless lives."

"They'll get them Naomi. It'll just take some time, but they'll get what they deserve." Adrian said and moved from his chair to sit next to her. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders, causing her to flinch. He instantly moved back and looked her over. Worried, he began firing off questions. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Was it from Cain?"

She shook her head and shrugged as if it didn't faze her. "It's nothing to worry about, just Cain's way of saying 'hi'. It's already been taken care of."

Adrian looked hard at her and wasn't sure if he believed her completely. He knew firsthand what Cain's beatings were like. Until Naomi he had been Cain's whipping boy. That stopped when Naomi and her friends managed to get protective services involved.

They said if Cain ever left marks again he'd serve a lot of jail time and would be old and gray before he saw the light of day again. It was a good enough threat to keep him in line.

Kurama looked over his shoulder at Hiei adjusting his position for the third time since they got back. He suddenly realized the scent of blood that had been flooding his nose couldn't have been from Naomi that it was coming from the fire demon. Keeping discreet he looked at Adrian with a smile. "Hey Adrian, would you mind checking on Kana. She was very upset and I fear that she doesn't really know us all that well and would respond to you better."

Adrian didn't even realize that Kurama was trying to get him out of the room; he just nodded and went to check on the crying girl. It wasn't long before they heard the door open and Kurama closed his door. He turned to Hiei with an assessing glare. "How bad is it?"

Hiei forced himself not to squirm or give away his discomfort at the fox's interference and intuition. "Hn, it's merely a scratch. Nothing for anyone to worry about." Hiei told him dismissively. Kurama shook his head, not buying it for a second. Before he could say so Naomi made a scoffing noise and started in.

"Yeah, just a scratch," She said and rolled her eyes, amusing Kurama. She was the only one who could get away with calling Hiei a liar in his presence. "You just got lucky that the knife didn't have much force behind it otherwise it would have killed you."

She knew very well Hiei would get her back for ratting him out but she was more concerned with him getting taken care of. Even demons could die from infections and blood loss. Even now she knew he was glaring holes into her skull for not keeping quiet.

"Hiei," Kurama said distracting the fire demon. "From the smell of things you've already lost too much blood. At least let me look at it."

Kurama's voice was hypnotic and even Naomi was falling under his spell. Giving in instead of fighting it, Hiei removed his shirt with a grunt. Kurama noted that he was a bit pale and the bandage that had been around his chest was soaked through.

Pulling the first aid kit out from under his desk, he quickly went about cleaning the wound but noticed that it would need some stitches to heal quickly and properly. He pulled a vial of fluid that was a dull yellow and handed it to Hiei. "Drink this; it will help stave off any infection."

Hiei glared at the vial, then Kurama, then the vial once more before pulling off the top and downing the fluid in one shot. The look on his face told Naomi that it must have tasted really horrible, not that Kurama ever worried about flavor when it came to his medicines, mostly because he wasn't sure what would affect them or how without testing them and that was often dangerous.

Hiei tossed the vial to Kurama and the fox set the empty bottle back in the drawer to be cleaned and used again. A couple minutes after he had wrapped Hiei's wound and the fire demon had put on a clean shirt, Adrian and Kana walked back in. Naomi was glad the girl's mood had improved and was jealous that even after all the crying her friend looked just as good as she normally did.

"Thanks Shuichi." Kana said as she sat back down next to Naomi. Both she and Adrian had small smiles on their faces. Adrian gave both of the girls one of his radiant smiles before returning to his own seat. "By the way Naomi, Kala said she would be arriving at the airport around two o'clock on Sunday. She said she wanted us to meet her there if we could."

Naomi nodded with a small smile. "Sure, not a problem, it'd be great to see Kala again. But I'm glad you're feeling better. Don't worry we'll get everything taken care of." She told her friend and they shared a smile only two close friends could understand.

After all was said and done Kana was staying with Naomi at Kurama's until her sister could arrive. They would make arrangements later for Adrian to stay with either Yusuke or Kuwabara for the time being. When the girl's objected Kurama pointed out that Naomi was staying there anyways and he didn't mind sharing his stepbrother's room for a few days. Once that was decided they spent the afternoon talking. Everything was peaceful for the time being.

**End Chapter 3!**

**Lune: **Okay…so these chapters are becoming longer than I thought. Sooo…what do you guys think? Hiei was being his overly protective self as usual. Adrian and Kana got some aloooone time while the others patched up Hiei. At least this time I have a few more details on what happened with Cain. I didn't realize that I had left that out originally until someone asked about it around chapter 4 or 5. So please enjoy the new and improved The Last Elemental! Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4: Finally, a day to relax!

**Lune: **Okay I'm fast forwarding the story a couple of days since nothing truly interesting happened that needs a lot of detail…and I just want to say THANK YOU! I may not have gotten any reviews so far but I do appreciate the people who liked my story enough to Fav and Follow it!

In my opinion I think I've done much better on my re-writes than I did on the originals…which means I've wrote each story at least 3 or 4 times now lol. But long story short… I feel appreciated.

This chapter has a little bit of humor to it in the beginning and a little bit of OoC for Hiei but it's good! So I hope everyone is enjoying the OCs that I've added in and I'm keeping everyone in Character that's not mine.

Now on to the story!

Legend:

"Talking"

'Telepathic Speak'

_Thinking to oneself_

_**Dream/Memories**_

**YYH** = Pagebreak/Scene Change/Etc

**Chapter 4: Finally, a day to relax!**

*Sunday Morning*

"You know, he's kinda cute when he's sleeping." Naomi whispered, trying to hide her smile.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe we're talking about a guy who could kill you in less than a second and you wouldn't even know it until three seconds later." Adrian commented from his spot on the couch in Kurama's living room. "I bet he wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep over it either."

Kana, Naomi and Adrian had woken up early and Adrian had come over to see if Kurama and the girls wanted to hang out. Despite the early hours Kurama and Shiori were already gone that morning running errands and Hiei was elected to protect Kana and Naomi so he chose to take a nap in the windowsill on the far side of the room where their idle chit chat wouldn't bother him.

It didn't hurt that Kurama's concoction, which Hiei had been taking for the past couple of days to improve on his natural healing abilities, also worked on helping the fire demon sleep deeper than he normally would.

"So how do you wake this guy up then?" Kana asked as Kurama walked back through the door. His mother had stopped to have lunch with a friend and told Kurama to go ahead and meet her at home. Naomi caught a guilty look cross the fox's face as Kana continued. "He sleeps pretty deeply for a fighter. I thought they were supposed to be really light sleepers."

Naomi thought for a moment. "Well there's three surefire ways to wake him up. One is by screaming really loudly, but I advise against that as you're likely to hurt everyone's ears doing it. Two is by grabbing his sword." She glared at the others as they started to chuckle at her wording. "Perverts, you know exactly what I meant! Sheesh!"

She shook her head and went to the freezer, pulling out a carton of ice cream. "And finally, this is my favorite, is this…" She opened the carton and waved it under the fire demon's nose, which twitched in response, then whispered something in his ear.

Hiei snapped awake, barely hiding his flinch at the sudden twinge in his side. He looked over to see Naomi was eating a carton of ice cream by herself. Looking at the label he saw that it was one of his favorites that Kurama and Shiori usually kept stocked for his visits. "On'na…" was all he growled before leaping off the windowsill at the girl.

Ten minutes later he was back in the windowsill with the carton of ice cream in one hand and his other resting lazily against his side. Naomi felt a little guilty about irritating his wound since it was nearly healed but the bumps and bruises that Hiei had left her with kept that guilt to a minimum since her own injuries were reminding her that she wasn't in top condition herself. Even poor Kana got caught in the crossfire as Hiei tripped Naomi, sending her right into the other girl.

"Well, now that the two of you are done dragging us into your battles, how about we take a small walk?" Kurama suggested. Naomi had been complaining the past few days about wanting to get out of the house and Kurama decided that it would be fine as long as she didn't push herself too hard. Everyone quickly agreed before another 'friendly' battle could start, and everyone got up and headed out the door.

Their first stop was Kuwabara's house. As they walked, Kurama leading the way with Adrian and Kana talking energetically behind him, Naomi gladly brought up the rear of the group as Hiei did his usual thing of running through the trees and rooftops. He was so skilled that even Kurama and Naomi would only occasionally get a glimpse of him.

'Kana and Adrian seem to be getting pretty close these last few days.' Naomi thought to herself. She hadn't realized that the two of them had never gotten to know each other over the years. Somehow, someway they always managed to be there at different times. They had maybe hung out a few times but it was so rare that it wouldn't surprise her if they had forgotten about it.

"So Naomi," Kana asked as she dropped back a bit to talk to Naomi while Adrian moved forward to speak to Kurama. "How are things going with you and Hiei these days?"

Naomi thought she had seen Hiei stumble a bit at the question. She sent Kana a deadly glare and in a slow, almost dangerous voice she answered. "I don't know what you are talking about." She said enunciating each word. Her growl was so deep that it was almost not even understandable. Fortunately, for her own sake, Kana got the hint.

"Oh," She said carefully and then, placing her hands behind her back she looked up and in a very chipper and teasing voice she said, "I just thought maybe you and Hiei were together with the way you two fight. You two are just like the proverbial married couple." She teased as they finally arrived at Kuwabara's house.

"It's none of your business if Hiei and I are together or not." She groaned hoping her friend would just shut up. Hiei settled in at the back of the group and chose to lean against the tree in the yard rather than join the group at the door. She pushed past Kurama and Adrian, taking it upon herself to knock on the door. After a minute Shizuru answered the door with a fresh, unlit cigarette in her mouth, everyone had tried to convince her to stop but she would always shrug it off and comment on there being worse habits.

"Oh," Shizuru said in a bit of surprise as she saw the group at the door. "So what are you crazy kids up to?" She asked lighting the cigarette.

"Been better." Naomi answered quickly and Shizuru shook her head at the cryptic answer. She knew better than to interrogate the younger girl. "Is Kuwabara home?"

Shizuru chuckled lightly and shook her head again, giving the group a smile. "Figures, it's not like you ever come to visit me anyways. Nevermind thought, it doesn't matter hang on just a moment."

The group watched as she turned to the inside of the house and yelled. "Kazuma! Get your ass down here now!" She caused everyone to flinch and cover their ears.

It was only a couple of seconds until they heard a series of crashes and bangs that came from what could only be Kuwabara rushing down the stairs. He arrived in the room with his spirit sword drawn and ready for battle. "What's wrong? Is it demons?"

Shizuru frowned and hit him upside the head, causing him to release his spirit weapon. "Baby brother I've told you a hundred times, no spirit weapons in the house unless it's an absolute emergency!" She walked away muttering something under her breath. It was then that Kuwabara saw the group at the door.

"Oh, hey guys, what's up?" He asked. Kurama and Naomi assumed he had been studying all night again since he was dressed in pajama pants and a tank top.

"Hi Kuwa, remember me?" Kana asked opening her arms so he could get a good look at her. The others moved out of the way so the two could see each other uninterrupted.

"Hey Kana, wow don't you look nice today!" Kuwabara yelled happily. He had always had a soft spot for Kana and gave her a tight bear hug. After he knocked the breath out of her and she knocked him upside the head, he set her down.

After a few minutes, and a decline of their invitation from Shizuru, Kuwa was dressed and left with the rest of the group to go hit Keiko's before going to Yusuke's house. As luck would have it, Yusuke was at Keiko's house once again begging her forgiveness for something they had done. They didn't try to figure it out since this was nearly a daily occurrence.

It wasn't long before the two of them agreed to the idea of hanging out, Hiei just hung back and let the others decide since he would be dragged along anyways, and the group soon decided on watching a movie, followed by lunch and possibly some shopping at the mall. After some discussion they decided on seeing the latest "Must See" movie.

Naomi stopped the discussion for a second and turned to Kana. "Okay so before we start on this, what time is Kala's plane supposed to arrive?"

Kana took a moment to think about it and snapped her fingers. "Oh, right, she sent me an e-mail last night saying that her plane was supposed to be arriving here around two this afternoon."

They discussed the timing for a bit before Kurama spoke. "Well we can catch the movie but if Naomi and Kana are supposed to meet Kala at the airport than we'll only have a short time in between."

"Maybe we can go clubbing later." Kana suggested. "I know Kala will want to relax after a stressful flight and we can hang out more!"

"Oh, if we're going clubbing then I need to contact Yukina, Shizuru and Botan." Keiko said and set a quick text to the ferry girl with her phone. "Okay, I sent the message to Botan since Yukina doesn't have a phone. She'll ask the other girls."

"Great!" Naomi said excitedly. She had been feeling much better and clubbing was just the thing to get her moving. "Now…time to get some snacks and hit that movie!" After a group laugh at Naomi's expense the group headed towards the theater.

Some snacks, sodas and complaining boys later, they had found some seats in the back rows were they could spread out a bit and still be near each other. Kurama, Kuwabara, Kana and Adrian sat in one row and Yusuke, Keiko, Naomi and Hiei sat behind them. (A/N: This is also the order they were sitting in btw.)

Everyone was chatting excitedly until the lights went out and the noises faded away until all that could be heard was people enjoying their snacks. Once the previews and ads were over the lights darkened until the theater was completely dark.

The movie turned out to be a post-apocalyptic movie with a bit of a thriller element to it. Naomi, not bothered too much by the movie, could hear Kuwabara and the girls often squeak, squeal or actually give a surprised cry during any particularly scary or gruesome part. At one point Naomi saw Kuwabara spook and nearly jump into Kurama's lap, settling on his arm and digging his nails in. Kurama chuckled and quietly said something to Kuwabara that relaxed his grip a bit.

"We see this kind of thing all the time." Kurama teased after a few minutes of losing his arm to his friend. "I'm surprised that the false situations actually bother you more than the real thing."

Kuwabara let go of his arm and straightened up a bit, Naomi could see he was a bit offended and saw a smirk cross Hiei's face out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, well it's not the same. In the heat of battle everything is different and I don't notice the details as much. This they actually make it so you can't overlook them." He said defending himself.

After the other guys put in a couple of friendly jabs they returned their attention to the movie. By this time Yusuke had Keiko tucked under his arm and Adrian was holding Kana. Before Naomi could get jealous she felt Hiei's hand wrap around hers. With a small smile she took his hand and acted as if nothing had happened if one of the guys should look back to check on her.

'You tell anyone and I will make you pay for it.' Hiei's voice whispered through her mind. It wasn't the first time that he had done it since she had known him so it wasn't as surprising as him grabbing her hand. Not being able to reply without giving them away she simply gave his hand a small squeeze.

They remained like this until the last few minutes of the movie. A particularly gruesome scene came up with enough details that it was obvious the director of the scene had way too much fun in designing it. Not to say it wasn't good in detail but it was just a bit too realistic looking.

A vast majority of the people watching the movie nearly jumped out of their seats. Keiko hid her face in Yusuke's shoulder and he held her tight, Kuwabara shrieked which surprised the theater goes into jumping a second time. Kana closed her eyes and bowed her head until all she could see was Adrian's chest.

Naomi, not wanting to look horribly weak to Hiei, simply closed her eyes and thought about something else for a moment. She didn't realize that her grip on Hiei's hand had tightened and he said nothing about it.

After the movie, everyone waited for the theater to clear out before tossing their garbage and started chatting about the movie. Keiko looked a little shaky but she wasn't one for any kind of thriller movie. "Well I wasn't scared for a moment!" Kuwabara declared. Hiei decided to have a little fun with the big oaf and snuck up behind him.

"Boo!" Hiei said and Kuwabara jumped, turning to face the threat behind him. His face was pale and he looked like he was either going to pass out or be sick.

Naomi laughed a bit. "Serves you right dumbass! You freaked out at the scariest part of the movie! I bet the whole place thought a little kid had snuck into the room."

"I only did it to make you girls not feel so bad about being afraid. It didn't scare me one bit." He said with his arms crossed. A little color came back to his face but it was merely the blood rushing to his face in embarrassment and anger.

Hiei just smirked at him. "Hn, as if you fool. I could have felt your fear across the room."

"My thoughts exactly Hiei." Kana laughed. By this time the others, except for Kurama, had joined in the teasing a bit. Kurama watched Kuwabara's reaction to know when it was necessary to interfere. Fortunately Kuwaba knew how to take teasing with a grain of salt and not get too hurt by it.

"I told you shrimps!" Kuwabara said, nearly yelling as they walked outside. "I'm not afraid of some stupid movie. It's all fake anyways!"

As he was arguing he flung his hand to the side, not seeing Naomi was within reach and unable to react fast enough. His hand connected with her arm and side dragging a grunt from her, her eyes closing in pain for a moment. Hiei pulled her close to him, putting slight pressure on her ribs, but Naomi knew better than to complain as he growled at Kuwabara.

"S…sorry Naomi." Kuwabara muttered looking down. He hadn't even really acknowledge Hiei's threat, he just felt like dirt for forgetting to watch for his injured friend. "I forgot you were hurt and didn't see you and…"

Naomi cut him off, not bothering to remove herself from Hiei's grip. "Don't worry about it. It was my fault for following too close anyways." She said cheerfully and felt Hiei's presence in her mind. "Let's go retrieve Kala already!"

'On'na,' Hiei growled at her. She could feel his emotions when they were linked, not that she ever mentioned it to him because it wasn't supposed to happen unless he wanted her to feel them. He was worried and irritated. 'That moron should have been more careful. As clumsy as he is it's amazing he's survived the human world this long, not to mention fighting demons.'

Naomi mentally laughed and tried to project the image of the back of her hand brushing his cheek. 'I'm fine Hiei, it was an accident no harm done.'

She knew he would be able to read her thoughts as long as they were linked so she just worked to project them rather than let her mind think them. He growled before she felt him leave her mind. He released her as the others began walking off but retained control of her hand and made sure she kept close. He watched carefully to make sure that she could make the walk without wearing herself out.

**Chapter 4 End!**

**Lune: **So I know this chapter is shorter than the others but I didn't want to add in them picking up Kala since it would double the current word count at least. To me anything around 5000 words is too much for one chapter unless it can't be avoided. I like to keep it around a nice 4000 – 4500 words.

I'll do my best to get the next chapter up soon but I really want to work on other stories too so please feel free to tell me what you think about my story! Any helpful advice is welcome, flaming will result in me having a barbeque and roasting marshmallows over your evil flames.

Until next time!


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